Archers
by quietlittlepigeons
Summary: Jinora Gyatso is an archery pro. When archery newbie Kai Fong joins the team, is it friendship, or something more?
1. Chapter 1

Jinora pulled the string of her bow back to the corner of her mouth. She took a breath and listened to her heartbeat. She felt the hushed silence of the crowds around her, all holding their breath to see if she would hit the target. Jinora let the arrow fly between heartbeats. It hit the center of the target, but no crowds cheered. Jinora blinked. She wasn't at the National Teen Archer Competition. That wouldn't happen for another month.

She sighed, and hoisted her lemon-yellow bow under her arm. Jinora wasn't nervous about the competition; quite the opposite. The entire affair was lots of fun, even for someone as shy as Jinora. She'd won in her division every year since she was fourteen.

Jinora grabbed her water bottle and sat down to wait for the three-whistle signal that meant she could retrieve her arrows. Her friend Opal, a pretty girl with black hair and green eyes, was hanging up her bow. Opal sat down next to her. "Hey, great shooting!"

"You too!" Jinora smiled. Opal was a few years older than her, but had only recently joined archery. Tenzin, the archery coach and Jinora's dad, was happy to have new kids to teach. He'd been training her as soon as she could hold a bow.

Opal glanced over at the gym doors. "Hey, who's your dad talking to? Isn't that a kid from your class?" Jinora turned to the doors, and saw Kai Fong, the scruffy-haired class clown in her year at Republic City High School.

"Yea, that's Kai Fong. He's in a lot of my classes this year. I didn't know he was interested in archery." Jinora took another gulp from her water bottle and turned back to Opal. "Hey, Korra had a swim meet this morning, did you hear how it went?" Opal started to reply, but was cut short by the appearance of Tenzin.

"Jinora, this is Kai Fong. He'll be joining the archery team. Could you set him up with a bow and show him the basics?" Kai peered out from behind Tenzin, and a hint of recognition flashed in his emerald eyes. Jinora nodded, and Tenzin went back to helping Ikki and Meelo with their stances. Opal gave Jinora a little wave, and headed back over to the range.

Jinora beckoned Kai over to the bows. They all hung on a wall, and scattered in between were gloves, arm guards, and other archery equipment. "See one you like?" She asked Kai, trying to kill the awkwardness between them. Kai gently lifted a cherry-red bow off the wall. "Give it a pull and get the feel of it." Jinora instructed, using her bow to demonstrate.

Kai stretched the bowstring back to his earlobe. "It feels pretty good, not too tight, not too loose." Jinora nodded, and grabbed a glove and arm guard from the wall.

"Here, these will keep your hand and arm from getting sore." Jinora handed the glove to Kai, who slid it over his right hand. Jinora carefully cinched the arm guard over his left forearm. "Well, looks like you're all ready to shoot. I'll grab you some arrows and meet you at the range." Kai nodded, and walked off.

Jinora selected a few arrows all the while kicking herself for being so awkward. _For Raava's sake Jin, pull yourself together. He's no stranger, you wrote a history paper with him two months ago! _But still, it was odd seeing Kai on the archery range. Everyone at school knew her as the shy, quiet, bookworm. Having two very different parts of her life intersect was strange.

Kai was sizing up the range, glancing at the other archers, and then back at the target. he gave Jinora a dorky smile when she approached. "Thanks for helping me out with this. It's real nice of you."

Jinora gave him a small grin. "It's no big deal. My dad usually has me act as a coach if things get too busy around here." Jinora grabbed an arrow. "Now, let's get started."

Kai was a quick learner. Within a few minutes, he understood basic form and whistle signals. Next up was actually shooting an arrow.

"Most people think that accuracy depends on where you aim your bow. That's only partially true. Most of your accuracy comes from how you hold your bow." Jinora pulled back the string, aligning it to the corner of her mouth. "If you pull your bowstring back to the same place every time, You'll have better aim." Jinora let the arrow fly, hitting the center of the bullseye. Much to her surprise, Kai chuckled. Jinora turned to him. "What's so funny?" She inquired.

Kai grinned. "Oh, nothing much. I just never thought Jinora Gyatso; straight-A honor student and all-around good girl, would have a tattoo."

Jinora blushed, realizing that her short-sleeved shirt showcased the blue arrow tattoo on the inner wrist of her right hand. "Oh, this? It's a family tradition. When my Grandpa Aang won the National Teen Archer Competition, he got one to commemorate the occasion. My dad has one, and I got mine when I turned fourteen."

Kai was clearly surprised. "You won the National Teen Archer Competition when you were _fourteen? _That's pretty incredible. Isn't that one of the most difficult contests in the country?"

"Yup. I've been training for a long time, ever since I could remember. Now, let's get back to your training." Jinora said. She had the feeling this was the beginning of a friendship.


	2. Chapter 2

Saturday morning at the Gyatso household was pretty hectic. Jinora's mom, Pema, was getting breakfast ready and trying to keep three year-old Rohan from wandering into the kitchen. Tenzin was getting Meelo ready, and wasn't being helped by the fact that Meelo kept running down the hall to Ikki's room, pulling her hair, and sprinting away. Between Meelo's giggles and Ikki's yelling, Jinora could hardly concentrate on her book. She'd been awake an hour ago, and was dressed in a red T-shirt and gray spandex, ready for archery. Saturday was free shooting day at the range, and her dad would be there until five to instruct kids. Jinora stayed until Pema picked her up and took her to the library at noon.

She tried to block out the chaos from outside her room and focus on her book. It was very interesting; all about the tunnels under Ba Sing Se. Jinora was a night owl and usually stayed up into the early morning reading. Ikki threw open the door. "Mom says to come down for breakfast." Jinora closed her book and followed Ikki down the stairs. Oatmeal and juice were waiting on the table. Tenzin hurried them through breakfast, and into the gear-packed car.

When the family arrived at the range, Jinora helped her dad set up the hanging targets for practice. Then she pulled out her bow and clipped her gray quiver onto her back. Taking aim at the nearest target, she released her arrow and hit the bullseye with a wooden thunk. Ikki and Meelo were off to her left squabbling over arrows.

The door slammed shut, catching the younger sibling's attention. "Korra!" Yelled Ikki and Meelo, running up to the twenty-one year old, Ikki talking a mile a minute and Meelo climbing up onto Korra's shoulders.

"Hey, Ikki, slow down! And Meelo, _get _down!" Korra pried Jinora's nine year-old brother off her back. Jinora smiled to herself. Korra was an old friend, and practically family, along with her friends Mako, Bolin, and Asami.

"Hey Korra, how'd your swim meet go yesterday? I didn't get the chance to ask Opal." Jinora asked.

"It went fantastic! I beat that jerk Tahno by thirty whole seconds! You should have seen his face! Priceless!" Korra was pulling her blue bow out of its case as she spoke. Korra was a multi-sport athlete, involved in swimming, weightlifting, volleyball, and running. She was relatively new to archery, though, and wasn't quite grasping it as well as she had hoped.

"That's great!" Jinora's attention was distracted by the appearance of Tenzin.

"Korra, would you like to get started?" Korra nodded, and followed Tenzin to the range. Jinora walked back to the hanging targets, and drew back her bow.

"Hey."

Startled, Jinora dropped the arrow and turned to face… Kai. She blushed.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" _Well, what do you think Jin, he's here to shoot! I'm so stupid sometimes! _Kai smiled, and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, I was kinda hoping that if you weren't too busy, we could continue my lesson?" Jinora felt another blush rising in her cheeks, and nodded.

"That sounds fun."

Across the room, Korra caught Jinora's eye and winked.

**Hey guys, sorry it's so short, I wanted to get it out. What did you think of the Korra cameo? Thank you so much for reading, It's awesome of you guys!**


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